Give credit where credit is due.......

Via q8alln1

I guess I never thought about it much. It still amazes me when I get a comment from one of my blog readers who are not family or one of my personal or online friends.

It's really amazing that my blog is read by people who have never met me  {all 1o of them......who I adore so much. :-)}

I teach it to my students almost daily being an English teacher.

And now today my twitter timeline is abuzz with it.

What am I talking about? Imitation, stealing, and plagiarism.

A few days ago a blogger friend and I face-booked about it when she saw that one of her readers had copied her post and posted it to her blog. Yes, she changed a few words. Yes, she made the references about her own life.  But No credit was given.  All in all she plagiarized someone's blog and passed it off as her own. She took an ORIGINAL concept and copied it. I'd call that plagiarism.

Today another of my favorite bloggers tweeted that someone had stolen their ORIGINAL website design, altered it slightly, and are now using it on their blog.

Another favorite blogger of mine retweeted a post by one of my favorite designers outlining what is appropriate and what is not appropriate in using her ORIGINAL artwork without express consent.

As a teacher I know that in my 8th grade class I have this conversation alot with my students. Taking someone else's idea and using it in any way WITHOUT giving credit to where the idea originated is NOT ok. I don't think I can make the point any better than Kelly did when she wrote this post. You should definitely go over there and take a look and make mental notes.

As a new blogger and a crafter lots of things that I post about have originated somewhere else or with someone else, but I make sure I give credit where credit is due. Most people love the idea that you agree and/or like their idea and are more than thrilled that their concept/idea is being spread via bloggers. But by all means, pay homage to that person for their inspiration. Not only does it let them know that you appreciate what they do, it's the fastest way to make friends online. I have met some great people through my blog, linking to other people's blogs, and retweeting links to other's blogs.

Don't insult someone who inspires you by stealing from them. No bueno.